Are America's Best Days Behind Us?

"How do we get back?"

That is the question of the hour. How, after last week's pitiful and painful collapse of our financial system, can we set the clock back and either right the wrongs, or simply rise above them?

Perhaps, for the first time in our nation's history, there is no answer. Perhaps there is no getting back to where we were. Perhaps, like our international standing, our vaunted military prowess and our enviable protection of civil rights, our unrivaled economic success is over. The wheels have fallen off, we've run out of track -- however you want to say it, maybe, just maybe, America's greatest moments are behind us, and the rest is an increasingly steady slope downhill.

Of course the idea that America has peaked is by no means an original one, but according to a new poll by Kelton Research, six in ten (60%) Americans agree that the United States will never regain the economic prosperity it once experienced (full disclosure: I am currently employed by the research firm). Surprisingly, that number rises to 65% when only polling women, compared to 56% of men. The poll, taken during the Dow's dismal days early last week, comes at a particularly key point in time, as the Sarah Palin story has been pushed off the front pages of newspapers around the country, and the economy has returned as the major campaign issue of the moment.

As many observers pointed out last week, the change of topic seems to be benefiting the Obama campaign. When asked which of the two presidential candidates would best be able to help the American economy recover from the current crisis, 42% of respondents put their faith in Obama, compared to just 30% who said McCain would be best. The Democratic Party also scored highly, as half (50%) of Americans say that the Dems better understand the issues that affect their daily lives, while only 31% believe that the Republican Party is the more empathetic of the two parties.

Aside from the economy, McCain may have other troubles. After a flurry of media reports in the past week criticizing the content of some of McCain's campaign commercials, it seems that Americans are beginning to openly question the veracity of the attack ads against Obama. Nearly six in ten (59%) Americans agree that many of the recent commercials produced on behalf of the McCain campaign have contained lies about Obama's record. Furthermore, almost a quarter (24%) of men strongly agree with this statement, and 19% of women feel the same.

While much of this information would seemingly help Obama pull away in the national polls, it doesn't take a seasoned political watcher to know that today's hot story can quickly become yesterday's news. McCain's reported toying with the truth has already largely been forgotten, trapped below a flurry of economic stories and worries, and with the Treasury bailout plan expected to go through this week, and the population's short attention-span, there's no guarantee that the economy will still be the issue du jour come November, either. And let's not forget, "surprise" season begins October 1st.

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Comments

[missjabez]

I think our best days are probably behind us. If Obama wins--and for America's sake he badly needs to win-he'll spend the first term cleaning up after the Bush gang. If McCain wins, we'll continue our freefall to disaster. Even if Obama wins, I'm not sure he'll get the help he needs from the American people to make this country great again. Americans are not as selfless as they were in FDR days. Today it's all me, me, me.

[nestor456]

The US jumped the shark in 1968. When Nixon assumed power, it effectively ended the politics of the '60s and birthed the neo-con era -- an era that is responsible for nearly all that is wrong with America right now, and whose final bowel movement sits, festering ignominously, in the oval office while the rest of the nation eagerly awaits the sucessor.

Had Robert Kennedy not been killed, nobody would be talking about the U.S. being in decline -- we would be as strong and as respected as ever. But instead we got Nixon, Reagan and the Bushes and they did their best to ensure that America had no future.

[72Duece]

First off - you didn't pole me or my coworkers, in fact, by the numbers you probably called down to the federal housing or poled young college kids.

You're results skew democrat which proves "that bad news for America is good news for democrats."

America will continue to be "that shining city on the hill." Especially if we become energy independant by using our own resources and not waiting for rubber-band powered cars, stop the polical correctness and call it like it is: Politcal hacks doling out money with no oversight at tax payers expense: stupid. Loaning money to people to make it look like we are helpng the less-fortunate when you know damn well that low rates swing up on an adjustable mortgage is :stupid. Spending like a drunk sailor in port and buying a home you can't afford in the first place: stupid. To quote Dave Ramsey: "it's the same advice your grandmother gave you."

When we start teaching self-reliance again and stop waiting for Uncle Sam or Publisher's Clearing House to show up with a check we will see the greatness that history has shown

In the mean-time, you might wanna consider polling people who don't live under a bridge and aren't perpetually thinking the sky is falling.

[larry278]

To be an optomist, polls have a miserable reputation for accuracy?

[deliriousgod]

as long as you keep electing politicians whose greatest ambition is to take you back to where it all began as an isolated barefoot backwater with no relevance on the international stage

[navy62802]

Our country has reached a point where those who would take us back to our former greatness are stifled and railroaded. We will have to fundamentally uproot our current state of affairs and begin anew. It will take a second American Revolution I am afraid. We are sprinting down the road to oblivion right now. At this pace, we won't last as long as most nations, ironically.

[research]

Americas worst days are ahead if we fail to elect Obama.

[fiftyseven]

My hope is that the best is yet to come. The answer is that people need to participate in government. I would hope that the last eight years have taught us that much. Our pathetic responses to a series of attacks on our Constitution by an administration that has pretty much flipped us off for eight years now can surely be turned around. It will require effort, but we the people have to hold those we elect accountable. I would like to see people conscientiously stop saying "the government" and instead say "our government." The potential for prosperity is there.

[KillTheMessenger]

The real problem of the US is that it does not invest its money in things that last. Ammunition, fighter planes, rockets are all fleeting. Other nations are building bridges, railways, tunnels, art museums and concert halls by the dozen. We haven't built anything of importance in decades after having been the sole innovator for the first part of the century.

The total architectural manpower the Chinese invested in the Olympics alone was probably more than the whole of what the US has engaged for public buildings in the last decade.

And this is not just a symptom of economic weakness. It is the result of a brain cancer that is eating away at the nations intellectual resources. At the onset of the 21st century we have decided that America is defined by farms and wooden churches. Europe has built theirs out of stone since the 13th century... but even God has been reduced in America to something that's not worth more than stick and frame construction. Yes, even an agnostic can notice that.

[navy62802]

Correctamundo! A nation's greatness lies in its people. Our leaders have lost that vision.

[Ericsfriend]

It is hard to see how we will be as dominant as we were. Are Americans prepared to become the next Britain, i.e., the previous world power, well enough off, but without any real international influence, as China becomes ever richer and more powerful? Goldman Saks projects China will have an GDP as large as America's in just 22 years. Thereafter, it's economy will grow significantly larger. It could easily support a defense budget as large or larger than America's with a larger economy. Before most of us die. We absolutely need to be running on all 50 cylinders to slow down this decrease in relative power.

[KillTheMessenger]

The answer to that lies in the simple observation that we were never as dominant as we thought. The same would be true for Britain. The same was true for Spain. It was true for the Roman empire. It was true for the Persians when they tried to conquer the Greek. It nipped the Chinese in the butt when they were taken by the Mongolians. And the Mongolians came across Asia like a tsunami which reached all the way to Europe's heart and then they retreated into historical oblivion.

Opening the history book can do a lot to ease the pain. We are not alone in overestimating ourselves. It happens to really everyone.

[freshnotbitter]

Annually we spend $700 on defence for nothing, another $700 billion on inefficiencies in our medical care delivery system, and huge amounts on just collecting taxes that could be replaced by a simple IRS form.

We have never been richer. We just don't see the money because we throw it away which is what most people do when they have too much money. It is human nature.

As soon as people become more poor they will look at the items I mentioned above.

[Grunty1]

We might recover, but we need to shed our acceptance of excess and greed to do so. As long as our culture of greed persists, we will not be able to rebuild, or even hold out the current position.

[toronto]

The bigger question is can the US ever recover its reputation.

[KillTheMessenger]

It did not have as much of a good reputation as you maybe thought it had to begin with. But even the goodwill it had from its allies is pretty much used up. It will take a while to rebuild. As in one or two generations.

[ofrancine]

What quantifies the "best" days? When we're before, above, more powerful, smarter, happier, richer, prettier, thinner, more tolerant, tougher, cleaner, greener than whom? Everyone else? With the grossest domestic product or the fattest, non-starving population? I lose track. Can there be peace in such competition? "Best" and "worst" only exist as figments of our current perception. We've been taught that we're always aspiring to the great American Dream, whether that consists of safe suburban bliss or the freedom to constantly challenge the status quo, or something else altogether. When are we better or worse off, when everyone complies or when everyone rises up in revolution? I think that for every era (and who can absolutely quantify time?), we ebb and flow as a civilization like humans have for many, many, many decades. Maps get redrawn as the world powers through constant upheaval, but I don't think human nature as we know it evolves as quickly as we cynically suspect. We'll deal with change like we always tend to do, learn later it was the wrong way, and in the meantime wait for our collective mind's pendulum between best and worst to swing back.